


Back to the Cove

by Andjare



Category: Candle Cove
Genre: Angst, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Corruption, Older Janice, Pirates, Sibling Bonding, Strained Relationships, Violence, Working With Enemies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 21:07:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21434710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andjare/pseuds/Andjare
Summary: “Janice nobody is saying you’re crazy.”“Then why do you insist on taking me to a shrink every time I mention Candle Cove?!”“Because if we don’t do anything then we’ll never figure out how to help you with these nightmares!”“THEY’RE NOT NIGHTMARES THEY’RE MEMORIES!”*Candle Cove has haunted Janice ever since she returned to the real world, and though she has tried to move on it still leaves its mark. Ongoing nightmares, being treated as crazy and the endless struggle to repair her relationship with her older sister, Melrose.But when a storm takes her and Melrose back to the Cove, Janice finds it isn't just a reunion with her childhood friends. The Cove has been ravished by a new threat from the Abyssal Kingdom, forcing the Laughing Stock crew to team up with Skin-Taker himself. Janice has to decide between trying to get Melrose home and fighting to protect the Cove... unaware of the corruption beginning to tear at her mind.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

_The wooden deck swayed and bobbed with the motion of the ocean, turning her stomach slightly with the choppiness of the waves.  
  
Salt. Salt stuck to her nose, overcoming her senses.  
  
Sunlight. Too bright and hot, she squinted to see.  
  
Seagulls. Constantly crying out, were they crying out to her?  
  
And faces.  
  
All around her were faces.  
  
Pirate hats. Eyepatches. Monocles. Bones.  
  
She knew them.  
  
They spoke.  
  
“Welcome to the Laughing Stock lass.”  
  
”YOU HAVE… TO GO… INSIDE!”  
  
“I-I-I’m not scared!”  
  
“TO GRIND YOUR SKIN!”  
  
Then screaming.  
  
Screaming…  
  
So… much… screaming…  
  
**AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!  
  
ARGH! ARGH! ARGH! ARGH! ARGH! ARGH!**_  
  
  
  
Janice’s eyes snapped open.  
**Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.Beep.**  
She lay there for a moment, chest rising up and down, up and down, gradually getting slower until the beeping alarm clock out-paced it. Her hand groggily reached over, slamming down on the button a bit harder than necessary as she finally registered her surroundings.  
Her room. The bright, sandy yellow wall, dark blue ceiling with a thick carpet in the same shade. A veil of light illuminated the room from the window above her dresser, the thin pale blue curtains barely doing anything to block the sun. The dresser itself was a simple wooden one, stood next to her bed to act as a bedside table. Apart from that the only other bits of furniture were a tall wardrobe in the corner, a squashed beanbag chair at the foot of her bed, and a large red box in the shape of a treasure chest, her fencing sword leaning against it. The only other additions were several drawings pinned to the wall and a calendar hanging above her headboard.  
It was all familiar yet not really a comfort, then again she always felt a bit alienated after having that dream.  
No… those memories…  
**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.**  
“HEY BRAT! You up yet?”  
Only just suppressing the urge to give a loud snore in response, Janice pushed herself up as she called out “Yeah Mel, I’m up.”  
“Then get a move on! I’ve gotta go into work early so hurry up unless you wanna run to school!”  
A sigh came out as she heard her sister’s footsteps quickly fading away from her door, resting her head in her hand.  
Great, if Melrose was going in early that would mean she’d end up hanging around school for at least an hour before she was allowed to go to class. Maybe she could hole up in the library for a bit to avoid anyone, go over her homework again. Not like she could study properly in this place anyway, so it would most likely end up being a complete do-over.  
Letting out another sigh, her eyes lingered for a moment on the calendar hanging over her bed. It was a week until her birthday, turning sixteen. Melrose had been going on about what a bit age it was yet to her, it was just another birthday. It happened every year and never made a difference, it just made her older.  
_One year closer…_  
“Ugh, stop it!” She snapped at herself, shaking her head to get rid of the thought as she finally got out of bed, moving over to her dresser as she started looking through her clothes.  
The force which she pulled the top draw open shifted a few pieces of paper strewn across the top, causing her to glance up and grab one as it started to fall off. Looking down, she stopped what she was doing. It was a drawing, quite an old one from the quality, but she instantly recognised it. There was a large pirate ship, its hull having a face with a wide grinning mouth and two round eyes. Standing on the ship (or rather hovering in the air above it, clearly her younger self had an issue drawing feet on the ground) were several figures. Pirates. The two most noticeable ones was a tall man with a thick red beard, and a shorter one with large eyes like a china doll. Above each image were names.  
Laughing Stock.  
Poppy.  
Percy.  
Her fingers traced each figure individually, remembering their faces and voices.  
The cove...  
“JANICE GET YOUR ASS MOVING!” Melrose’s voice shouted, making Janice jump slightly and groan to herself.  
Her eyes flicked back to the picture, focusing on the large ship for a moment.  
“Huh, guess I’ve got to go OUTSIDE eh?” She asked the picture, smiling slightly as she put it back down, grabbed her clothes and walked over to the door, heading towards the bathroom to get ready.  
  
*  
  
**Hiss. Splat.**  
“Ah shit.” Melrose swore under her breath as a bit of hot butter jumped out of the pan and splashed onto her wrist, turning down the heat and moving over to the sink to run the skin under cold water. Once it felt suitably numb, she went back to the frying pan to continue cooking, still muttering to herself continually.  
Dressed in a pair of smart black work trousers and a short-sleeved black blouse, a small white badge resting over her left breast with the words ‘Straub Fashion. My name is Melrose.’ printed onto it. The short sleeves showed a multitude of tattoos running down to her elbows, most notably a large green snake curling around her left arm. Her feet were still bare, causing her to patter about as she moved and revealing a smaller tattoo just below her ankle; a small, simple red heart with ‘M + J = BSF’ in black writing. Her black hair was twisted into a high ponytail, a few rebellious strands running down her cheeks, while her face was half made up with thick eye-liner and eye-shadow over one eye.  
Normally she was far more put-together than this, but she’d literally just got the call to go in early an hour ago so she’d had to rush to make sure she was ready. This wasn’t the first time her boss had called her in to help with the morning delivery, but it was definitely the latest he’d left it to actually tell her; usually, he had the sense to call the night before. Because of this Melrose was feeling even more irritable than usual, having already threatened to kick the neighbour’s cat for meowing at their kitchen door again and spilled her nail varnish all over her vanity.  
Needless to say, this was not a good start to the day.  
Spooning the omelette out onto the plate and setting it at the kitchen table, where a glass of water stood ready, she started breaking the eggs for her own breakfast while shouting “JANICE! FOOD! NOW!”  
It didn’t take long for Janice to appear dressed in a plain red t-shirt and dark blue jeans, dropping her bag and sword next to the doorway before taking a seat at the table, taking a drink of water without a word.  
“Took you long enough brat.”  
Janice rolled her eyes slightly as she muttered “Sorry Mel, I didn’t have a phone box.”  
Taking a bite of the omelette she couldn’t help grinning to herself. You’d never guess it from her attitude or how much she tended to eat out, but Melrose was an amazing cook. Even something as simple as this was utterly delicious and were she in a better mood Janice would be singing her sister’s praises. But Melrose was practically radiating hostility so it was just safer to play quiet for the moment; besides she didn’t particularly feel that positive herself.  
Finally, Melrose finished, standing up as she ate her food while tapping her foot in irritation.  
“You got everything? Books? Homework?”  
“Yep.”  
“Sword?”  
“Armed and dangerous.”  
“Good, I’ll pick you up after practise. And you wait for me this time! I’m not trailing the streets looking for you again.”  
“Got it.” Janice responded, stifling a yawn before continuing to eat.  
“Serves you right for staying up last night, what were you even doing? Fighting the wall? I could hear you crying out from down here.”  
“Considering the walls seem to be made of paper that isn’t much of a stretch. And I went to bed at ten anyway. The noise… well, I must have been talking in my sleep.” She hesitated slightly, fork idly stabbing into the last piece of omelette before she said “I had a very… vivid dream.”  
Melrose laughed, setting down her empty plate and picking up her glass for a drink “About what? You have a test or something?”  
“It was about Candle Cove again.”  
“AGK AGK! **Splutter.**”  
Melrose suddenly started coughing, slamming the glass down with her other hand gripping the kitchen counter as she tried to get her breath back. It took her several moments to get back, with Janice watching her with concern. Before she could ask if she was alright Melrose stood upright, taking a few deep breaths to stead herself properly. Then she grabbed Janice’s plate and glass while saying “We’ve got to get going, grab your stuff.”  
Janice opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind and stood up. Grabbing her stuff she went into the hallway and slipped on her trainers. For a moment her eyes slid over to a half-open door next to the kitchen, hesitantly walking over to gently push it open.  
The room was mostly shaded as the curtains were still drawn, with the only light coming from a large lamp over a desk at the opposite end to her. Sat at the desk was a hunched figure, shoulders moving slightly in time with the scratching of a pencil; the light showed the outline of several sheets of paper spread across the desk, though it was too far away to make out what was on them. She could, however, see many pinned onto the walls, a large selection of storyboards and character designs.  
“Hey, Dad? We’re heading off now so I’ll see you later.”  
“Hmm? Ok, bye Jodie.”  
“No, it’s…. um, bye, Dad.”  
Janice closed the door, sighing slightly as she walked away; she’d long since given up on correcting him.  
  
*  
  
**_Due to the recent weather conditions and the storms due to hit us by tomorrow afternoon, Police are advising citizens to avoid the stream and it’s surrounding area in St Martin’s Park as the terrain has become treacherous. Officers make a particular note to stop children using the collapsed tree bridge as the wood has begun rotting away, making it unsafe for use. Now back to the traffic report, congestion still-_**  
  
“God damn it.”  
Melrose turned down the radio and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, glaring daggers at the cars in front of her.  
The two had been sat in this jam for a good ten minutes now, which was particularly annoying considering how close they were to Janice’s school. After the first few moments of raging and abusing the car horn, Melrose had settled for quiet seething and muttered curse words. Janice meanwhile had just sat quietly in the passenger seat, leaning her head against the window and staring out at the cars outside. The two of them hadn’t spoken to each other since they left the house, which wasn’t anything unusual but right now Melrose felt an abnormal tension that she didn’t like.  
Why did she bring up that place again? And how was she still having those nightmares? She really wanted to discuss it properly but she knew that if she tried to bring it up they’d end up snapping at each other, both were far too wound up to get it out in the open. Besides, the moment this traffic jam cleared she’d quickly drop Janice off and have to get to work, not enough time. And despite how annoyed she was feeling, she didn’t want to separate on such a sore note.  
They’d been doing that far too often.  
Biting her lip slightly, she bent down and picked up a cd case leaning against the gear-stick, opening it and sliding the disc into the cd-player, hitting the skip button to get to a particular track. Because she’d turned the volume down so far it didn’t get Janice’s attention immediately. However, she turned her head when the first lyrics started up.  
  
**_Debbie just hit the wall  
She never had it all  
One Prozac a day  
Husbands a CPA_**  
  
Finally, she turned, glancing first at the CD player then at Melrose. Her sister didn’t do anything first, but raised an eyebrow and grinned slowly as they caught each other’s gaze. It didn’t take long for Janice to smile back. Generally, the two of them had different tastes in music, mostly because Melrose listened to a lot of screechy metal music that Janice couldn’t stand, but this band was the one big exception. So it didn’t take long for both girls to start belting out the chorus.  
  
**“Since Bruce Springsteen, Madonna  
Way before Nirvana  
There was U2 and Blondie  
And music still on MTV  
Her two kids in high school  
They tell her that she’s uncool  
Cause she’s still preoccupied”**  
  
Janice sang “With nineteen.”  
Then Melrose “Nineteen.”  
**“Nineteen eighty five!”**  
  
Almost in time with that last line, a deafening beep of a car horn from behind started, causing the two to jump as they realised the cars in front had finally started moving, and they were holding up everyone behind.  
“Fuck off we’re car jamming here!” Melrose shouted, sticking her middle finger towards the back window which earned another angry beep, before she hit the pedal and started moving, both sisters laughing like mad at the sight of the driver fuming in the rearview mirror. “Oh god, that was great. So, any more thoughts about what you want to do for your birthday? Sleepover? Party?”  
“I really don’t know, I mean is sixteen really such a big deal?”  
“Are you kidding? It’s the first step to adulthood!” She grinned mysteriously before saying “You know we could see if Aunt Jane in London can take you for a bit. And sixteen is the age of consent over there so maybe get your cousins to take you out for the night, meet some guys…”  
“Mel! Oh god, that’s sick, you’re a terrible role model.” Janice laughed, shaking her head slightly.  
“Just a suggestion. One of us might as well be getting some.”  
“I thought you were still seeing that guy? Um… Lee?”  
“Liam. We broke up.” Melrose responded, sighing slightly as she added: “He cheated on me.”  
This caught Janice off-guard, her eyes widening at those words as she whispered: “I… I’m sorry.” It really shocked her that she hadn’t known this, had they really not discussed this? She wasn’t exactly an authority on these things, but usually she and her sister did talk about stuff like this. Had they really been fighting too much with each other to talk about this? Things had been strained recently yet…  
Melrose caught sight of the expression on her sister’s face as she laughed it off, saying quickly “Hey don’t worry about it, he was a jerk. Honestly, the only reason I stuck with him for so long is that he was such a huge gift-giver. Not to mention the sex. God, I miss the sex so much...”  
“O-ok, um sorry to hear about the break-up but I’m still your sister here so let’s not go further than that.”  
“Heh, wait until you get a boyfriend of your own. Or girlfriend if you go that way, no judging here. But this is what I’m talking about, between going through stuff like that, getting closer to finishing school, deciding what you want to do, things are going to change very quickly when you hit sixteen. You won’t realise how much it matters until you’re older but this is a turning point, so might as well celebrate it now to make it memorable…” _God, I shouldn’t be the one to tell you this._ She thought to herself, hands tightening slightly over the steering wheel. She’d never wanted to be a parent but she had no choice, after losing their mother things had changed. Her Dad just absorbed himself in his work, it wasn’t too bad when they were younger but since Janice came back after her disappearance he just retreated further and further inwards, then when she hit her teenage years he practically became one with that room, not even responding to the abuse Melrose would shout in an attempt to get him to wake up. Thankfully he was attentive enough to deal with the bills and apart from one or two false reports from neighbours she didn’t get on with, social services had never been a problem. Still, she wished she had someone to back her up when it came to dealing with… that place. “You’ll have to let go of childish things, move on from things you’ve always clung to… let go of fantasy…”  
Janice squirmed slightly in her seat at these last words, the talk had gone from a little awkward but still touching to uncomfortable in an instant. There was something about her sister’s tone of voice that she didn’t like, and she had a horrible feeling she knew what it meant.  
“What do you mean?”  
“You know, moving past things. I’ll always be here to help you so you don’t need to hesitate. And if you want, before your birthday, I could try to book some-”  
“I’m not seeing him again!” Her tone was far harsher than she’d meant but Janice couldn’t help it, she was not having this conversation again.  
“Look you don’t have to have a proper session, just go for half an hour and chat, see what comes out.”  
“And listen to him analyse my mind to figure out how I’m crazy?!”  
“Janice nobody is saying you’re crazy.”  
“Then why do you insist on taking me to a shrink every time I mention Candle Cove?!”  
“Because if we don’t do anything then we’ll never figure out how to help you with these nightmares!”  
“THEY’RE NOT NIGHTMARES THEY’RE MEMORIES!”  
**SCREEEEEECH.**  
The car ground to a sudden halt, jolting Janice roughly forward against her seat belt. It took a few moments of panicked glances and heavy breathing to realise they had stopped in front of her school, the car parked slightly askew in front of the pavement, causing some odd glances from people walking past. She took a few more breaths before turning to look at Melrose. Her sister was sat there, her knuckles turning white with how hard she was gripping the wheel, her eyes staring straight ahead in an expression that Janice couldn’t read. Part of her wanted to hold a hand out to her, ask if she was ok, apologise. But…  
“Well, see you.”  
She opened the door and got out, slinging her bag across her back and grabbing her sword, just about to step back and shut the door when a hand rested on hers.  
“Hey-” Melrose started, also looking like she wanted to say something. But her hand fell back, returning to the wheel as she muttered: “See you after practise brat, remember to wait for me.”  
“Sure.”  
And with that Janice slammed the door a little harder than necessary, instantly turning away and running up the steps towards the front door, hearing the car drive away as she entered.  
Melrose drove fast, but almost immediately pulled over when she was out of sight of the school, parking on the side of the road before leaning her head on the steering wheel, muttering as many curse words under her breath as she knew.  
A single tear fell upon the button for the car horn.


	2. Chapter 2

**Doo Dee Doo Dee Doo Dee Doo.**  
Janice found herself groaning at the sound of the bell, not so much that it was happening but the sound itself. Would it kill them to pick out something that sounded like a real bell? This electronic nonsense was like the beginning of ‘Mamma Mia’.   
“Hey there eager beaver! You been camping out here or what?” The voice belonged to a girl around Janice’s age, her black hair done up in a curly ponytail and her eyes framed by silver-rimmed glasses.  
“Nah Karen, Melrose had to go to work early so I had nowhere else to go. One of the Janitors opened the library for me so I’ve been going through that algebra sheet.”  
“Correcting yourself eh? Go on then, let’s have a look.” Karen responded, sitting down as Janice slid the sheet over. She watched her friend run through each answer with an increasing frown appearing on her face.  
“Be honest, it’s atrocious right?”  
“Well… your corrections show you know where you went wrong… but it’s still not completely right.” She grimaced, sliding it back. “Tell you what, why don’t you come over after school on Friday and we can go over anything you’re struggling with properly. You know, have a study session.”  
“What’s the catch then?” A male voice came from behind them, the boy grinning as he leaned over his desk to speak to them.  
Karen rolled her eyes in response before commenting “There’s no catch David, I’m offering to be a good friend.”  
“Yeah right, every time I ask I end up having to bring in a weeks worth of snacks!”  
“That’s because you don’t make an effort in the first place. Janice actually tries, she just naturally struggles, so she deserves the help.”  
“So…” Janice responded, smirking craftily. “You really don’t want anything? Hmm?”  
Karen shifted slightly, her gaze faltering before she blurted out in one go “Ok I wanted to know if your sister still gets staff discount because Straub fashion has this new dress coming in by Thorn and the shape is something I’ve been wanting for ages not to mention the design is to die for I’ve got some money saved up bu-”  
Her voice was cut off by her friends' laughter, Janice causing the desk to shake while David tried to stop himself falling forward before gasping out “You are not allowed to be a nerd and a fashionista at the same time! It’s unnatural and it’s illegal!” This caused the two to start laughing even harder, with Karen now joining in to the point where other students were giving them funny looks.   
“The only illegal thing here is letting a group of hyenas into a public school.” The laughter stopped as the three turned to see a pair of blonde-haired girls looking at them, one leaning against Karen and Janice’s desk. She smirked nastily and added, “Not surprising since you clearly don’t know how to act…” Her eyes flicked over to Karen. “…or dress human.”  
“Better a happy hyena than a pea-brained peacock, are you done Diana?” Janice retorted.  
Diana grinned again before walking away, saying “Aye Aye Captain” while her friend giggled with her.  
“Well, that was original.” Janice muttered under her breath.  
This wasn’t the first time Diana had used something pirate-like to tease her and wouldn’t be the last. Truthfully the bullying had been far worse when she was younger. After her return home word soon got out about her stories of Candle Cove, and she hadn’t quite learned to keep quiet about it being real, so a lot of kids had taunted her about it. Diana had always been part of that but she was the worst when they were about twelve, as Janice finally got the nerve to yell at her for it. But getting this kind of response only fuelled Diana’s fire and made it get worse, to the point where she’d got Melrose involved and started a huge row between her and Diana’s father. Very bad idea. These days she snarked it off and ignored her as best she could, and whether due to boredom or, god forbid, maturity, Diana had gradually lessened her actions. That didn’t stop her teasing anyone else she could, but it meant she didn’t spend a lot of time on it whenever Janice was involved.  
Letting out a sigh, the three gave one last grin to each other before David sat down properly as the teacher walked in.  
English was their first lesson, they were looking at the poet Sri Chinmoy and what can be implied by his work. He wasn’t her favourite poet by any means but Janice enjoyed this kind of lesson, so she found herself listening intently.  
“Janice, can you read the next stanza?”  
“Yes Miss Gilbert.” She responded, running her finger to the start of the line before reading aloud. "Hope knows no fear. Hope dares to blossom even inside the abyssal abyss. Hope secretly fee-"  
“That’s abysmal Janice.”  
A slight chuckle went across the room, causing Janice to look up with a confused expression as she said “Um, sorry Miss. Should I speak a bit louder or…”  
“No no Janice, the word is ‘abysmal’. You said ‘abyssal’.”  
“Oh… right… sorry...” Another laugh ran around the room, the teacher shushing them before asking Karen to read the next part.  
Janice stared at the book, looking at the word again.  
It wasn’t unusual for her to mix up her words, she had a bad habit of spacing out and public speaking wasn’t her strong point, and if it was any other word this wouldn’t be an issue. But… why that one? Why that word?   
Groaning slightly she rubbed her head, this was the icing on top of an already bad start to the day. “Just get through the rest of the day. Just get through the rest of the day…”  
  
*  
  
_… Just get through the rest of the day. Just get through the rest of the day._  
That thought had been running through her mind the entire day, hiding behind her bright smile as she dealt with customer after customer. Right now she was dealing with a particularly frustrating lady, not necessarily annoying but chatty in that friendly way that you can’t turn down, to the point where she was only just paying even though the store was supposed to have closed ten minutes ago. As she finally left Melrose sank down onto the counter, banging her head a few times to wake herself up.  
“Haven’t you left yet?”  
She groggily looked up to see her boss stood there grinning, holding her coat and bag out towards her.  
“Cheers Mike, you’re a star.” She responded, slipping off her cardigan and shoving it under the counter before taking her jacket. The cardigan was required to cover up her tattoos as part of the uniform policy, though several regulars liked coming in to see what new ones she’d had done so it wasn’t enforced too much.  
The two walked out, Melrose waiting for Mike to lock the doors before the two made their way towards the parking lot. The lot was a bit far from the shop itself and both of them drove, so they often ended up leaving together.  
He held out a packet of cigarettes towards her as he asked “Smoke?”  
“You know I’m trying to quit.”  
“If you were serious you would just say no instead of making a point of it.”  
She raised an eyebrow but shrugged in defeat, taking a cigarette out and letting him light it for her. He lit his own and took a deep drag before speaking again.  
“Thanks for sticking it out with the old girl Mel, and for coming in this morning.”  
“No problem, though I’d appreciate a bit more warning next time. And she was no issue, just a good thing that Janice has practise today so I didn’t need to rush.”  
“How is Janice doing anyway? Not seen her for a while.”  
“Hmm…” Melrose didn’t respond properly, blowing out a plume of smoke and staring straight ahead.  
“You two been fighting again?”  
For a while there was just silence, then she glanced over at him.  
“She’s had one of the nightmares again, and I want her to go to therapy but she won’t.”  
“For one nightmare? Seems a bit extreme don’t you think?”  
“I know there’s been more than one but she won’t admit it, honestly I’m surprised she said anything at all.”  
“Uh-huh.” Mike chewed a bit on the end of his cigarette, his face thoughtful. “Have you actually told her why you keep pushing this?”  
“No, because every time I try I end up getting tongue-tied and snappy.”  
“Sounds like an ongoing problem. You sure you’re not the one who needs a therapist?”  
“I already know what’s wrong with me.” She responded, her voice cracking slightly causing Mike to raise an eyebrow. “I’m an insecure jerk who can’t express myself properly, either bottling everything up or letting it out as unchecked aggression. I know I’m fucked up Mike, but Janice is still hiding what’s wrong.” The cigarette dropped to the ground, Melrose quickly stepping on it as they crossed the road to reach the entrance to the parking lot. “The real problem is I think I’m rubbing off on her, every time I try to talk about it she snaps at me and we end up angry or just not talking to each other at all. God, I’m such an idiot.”  
“Melrose you know you’re a great sister, right? Janice is lucky to ha-”  
“I’m not great Mike. I’ve tried to get better since the incident but when we were younger I… I blamed her for mum’s death. To her face! It’s no wonder she ran away after that!”  
They had reached Mike’s car at this point, Melrose reaching a hand into her bag to grab her own keys which jangled loudly in her shaking hands as she tried to turn toward where her own car was parked. Her eyes were pricking, threatening to spill over again. She wanted to laugh at herself for being so pathetic, the amount she wanted to cry lately was getting ridiculous  
“Hey stop that right now!” Mike swung around to look her in the eye, placing both hands on her shoulders to keep her steady. “You may be a jerk at times, and not the best role model, and you have a serious issue with swearing…”  
“*Sniff* Is this supposed to be a pep talk?”  
“But you’re reliable! You groan about doing things and sometimes you fail but that doesn’t stop you from doing it when you need to. Whatever happened when you were kids is in the past now, you’ve done so much to keep her happy and take care of her, even when it was a pain for you. She loves you Melrose, and I know for a fact that you adore her. So stop giving yourself so much crap. Ok?”  
For a long time, Melrose just stared, eyes swimming uncontrollably as she managed to give a shaky smile.  
“Thanks, Mike… I needed that.” He smiled back, patting her shoulder gently before letting go.  
“Do what you need to, but if you want to talk about anything just call me and I’ll be there.”  
“Thank you… really...” Rubbing her eyes, Melrose let out a sigh. “Woo, this sentimental crap is making me nauseous, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Turning on her heels she made her way towards her car, Mike about to put his key in the door when her voice coming from behind caused him to jump. “Mike! Mike! Shit, I nearly forgot to ask, can I take an extra half hour for my lunch break tomorrow?”  
His expression was nothing less than incredulous, sounding utterly dumbfounded as he said “Mel… I just called you reliable and you… ugh, what for?”  
“I ordered something for Janice’s birthday and it will be ready to pick up tomorrow, but the shop’s quite far and I don’t think I’ll make it there and back in half an hour…”  
“And as her practise is today not tomorrow, you can’t go after work.” He finished, shaking his head slightly before saying “Alright, take the full hour.”  
“Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver!”  
“But you’re not getting paid for it.”  
“What? Why the hell not?”  
“You came in early this morning and stayed late to help a customer so there’s no need.” Giving a sly wink he added, “You know, 'cause you’ve already earned it?”  
“Now you’re just being sneaky.” Despite pouting, she smiled. “Thanks though, I really do appreciate it. See you tomorrow.” She dashed off to her car, slipping inside and driving off.  
Mike watched her leave, sighing slightly as soon as she was out of sight. After a few moments, he got into his own car, turning on the radio before backing out of the lot and heading home.  
  
*  
  
**Clang.**  
The gym echoed with the tapping of feet and the clashing of swords as the fencing team was in full practise, everyone paired up as each person stepped back or lunged forward, while the Coach walked among them giving pointers about posture and balance. The bell eventually sounded, with the coach shouting out “Practise over! Good job everybody, see you next week!”  
Janice lowered her arm, pulling her mask off and taking a deep breath as she grinned, walking over to her opponent with her hand outstretched.  
“Good match Sally, you caught me off guard a couple of times.”  
The other girl took off her own mask, tucking it under her arm before shaking Janice’s hand and responding “Took everything I had to get a shot in, you’re gonna kill it at the next tournament.”  
Sally was a senior so the two rarely got to speak during school hours, but they’d become good friends through the club and always ended up as the others fencing partner; she’d even hung out with Janice outside of school a couple of times. The two went off to the changing rooms to get showered, happily chatting about nothing in particular which always made Janice feel better. Sally was someone she could always rely on to have a normal conversation, it was like a break from reality without actually leaving it.  
Once showered the two started to get dressed, Janice rolling up her jeans to make it easier to put her socks on when Sally said: “That looks nasty, you get bit or something?”  
Janice glanced down to where she was looking, noticing the purple and bluish bruise on her right ankle.  
“Oh yeah, that’s been there for ages. Melrose reckons I’ve been kicking the wall in my sleep. Should probably move the bed.”  
“It looks a bit angry for just a wall vendetta, you sure it’s nothing worse?”  
Hesitating, she bent over to examine it more closely. Janice had this bruise for years, ever since she was little though she couldn’t remember where from, but it had always been so faint that she barely noticed it and assumed it was just night-time kicking like Melrose said. But looking at it now the colour seemed a lot darker than before, it even looked like it had spread slightly.  
“Maybe you’re right, I might see if I can get to the doctors later this week.”  
With that she finished getting dressed, grabbing her bag and sword before the two walked out.  
“So, any plans for your birthday?” Sally asked, pushing her hair out of her face.  
“I think I’ll be murdered if I don’t. It’s probably gonna be a house party or sleepover or something like that. Well whatever we end you doing, do you wanna come?”  
“Sure I’d love to, just let me know when you’ve got the details sorted and I’ll be there.”  
“Great, though I must warn you, Melrose is making a very big deal out of this so I think it’s going to be the cringiest thing ever.”  
“I’ll be disappointed if it isn’t, that’s what older siblings are for after all.” Sally laughed. “Trust me, I know from experience.”  
Their attention was drawn to a loud beeping sound, turning to see Melrose’s car parked in front of the school.  
“I’ve been summoned.” Janice muttered, giving a grin as she said. “See you Sally, I’ll text you when I know more.”  
“See you.” Sally waved as she went in the opposite direction.  
With that Janice wandered over to the car, opening the door and getting in.  
“Hey.” Melrose said quietly.  
“Hey.”  
“School good?”  
“It was ok. Work?”  
“About the same.”  
An awkward silence fell over them as Melrose turned on the engine and pulled away from the school.  
  
*  
  
The rest of the evening played out uneventfully but that underlying feeling of tension never quite went away, in fact it only got heavier.  
They’d had dinner and attempted to make conversation, even getting a few laughs out eventually, but anytime Melrose’s tried to approach the morning’s talk both ended up getting testy then falling into silence. After that Janice had gone upstairs to do homework, leaving Melrose alone to clean up the kitchen. This wasn’t anything unusual and Melrose didn’t mind, it gave her some time to herself to consider her next move. Once everything was cleared away she wandered outside onto the patio with a small glass of Whiskey, thumb hovering over the call button on the phone.  
Simon Harland. The therapist she’d been taking Janice to for years. He worked until ten on weekdays so he would be in the office. She could ring him up, see when he was available, book her in…  
Her thumb shook and she took a long gulp, trying to steady her nerves.  
Was this really the best option? She knew Janice would hate her for it, she always did, but at this stage, she may not forgive her. Maybe she was being paranoid, maybe there wasn’t anything to fix. And maybe she should just forget about all of this and just move on with their lives.  
Still…  
“Candle Cove.” She muttered, staring down at the phone. Those words had haunted her for years, and every time it came up the relationship she worked so hard to maintain instantly fractured. Janice still maintained it was real after all this time. There was no way it was real, it was just a fantasy she was using to hide… whatever had happened.  
But what could she do about it?  
_You know you’re a great sister right? You’re reliable._  
Mike’s words rang in her head, he’d sounded so confident when he said that. It made her feel so safe and secure… and she had to do something… Melrose knew she would regret it more if she didn’t.  
Taking a deep breath, she pressed the button and lifted the phone to her ear.  
“**Ring ring. Ring ring.** Hi is that Carrol?... Hi, it’s Melrose Stewart, Janice Stewart’s sister. Is Simon still there?... Yeah, I’ll hold… Hi, Simon, it’s Melrose, how are you?... Yeah not too bad thanks. So um, it happened again… The same thing, yeah. Any chance you can see her?”


	3. Chapter 3

_One year closer another year past, soon you’ll find out that your body won’t last…_  
“Janice? Janice are you listening? Hello?”  
Janice shook her head, blinking a few times before glancing over at Karen’s concerned face. It was coming towards the end of lunch period and the three of them were all sat in the main courtyard, Janice and Karen sat on a bench while David leaned on the wall beside them.  
“Huh, what? Sorry what did you say?”  
“You’re spacing out again.” David said, putting on a smirk as he added “What’s up? Did you and Meleficent fight again?”  
“One of these days I dare you to call her that to her face.” Janice laughed. “And you’re a day late, it was yesterday that we fought.” That morning things with the sisters had been very strange. The tension from yesterday was still hovering over the two, and while both of them had said sorry it didn’t really feel like either meant it. Melrose wasn’t angry... well she was but, more frustrated rather than full-on rage. If she was just shouting at her or had even given her a smack around the head that would be fine, but she seemed so withdrawn. In a desperate attempt Janice had even brought up the topic of her birthday, but her sister didn’t seem to bat an eyelid. And however much she didn’t want to admit it, she knew exactly why things were this bad. Because she’d mentioned Candle Cove. “Why did I bring it up?”  
“Bring what up?” Karen asked, frowning at her while David stood up properly, both looking confused and more worried.  
Janice looked up sharply, not realising she had said that out loud. Opening her mouth to speak, she hesitated. Yes, she had talked to them about Candle Cove before, but not much. It was still an odd thing to bring up as she knew they didn’t believe it was real, yet they were a lot nicer about it and far less paranoid than her sister. They even asked more about it and would joke with her. But she still felt like the two of them pitied her more than anything, so she tried not to talk about it if she could avoid it. Was it really worth saying anything at this point?  
She’d gone quiet again, causing a raised eyebrow between David and Karen before Karen said “It’s about that Candle Coven again isn’t it?”  
_Shit. They figured it out._ She thought, deciding it wasn’t worth denying it if they already guessed. “Candle Cove. And… yeah, it’s kind of about that. I had a dream about it the other night and like an idiot I told her about it. Melrose being Melrose, she freaked out and wanted to take me to a shrink again. We fought and apologised but she still seems off today. I’m worried about her.”  
“You seem off today and we’re worried about you. Why didn’t you say anything?” David asked, sitting down on the other side of Janice and placing an arm around her shoulder. “She’s probably suffering a bit of PTSD.”  
“You what?” Karen asked, causing David to roll his eyes.  
“Post traumatic stre-”  
“I know what it means dingbat, but why would she be having that? Surely Janice would get that more than Melrose?”  
“Not really, Janice had her fantasy pirate land to keep the ordeal from being too traumatic.” Janice gritted her teeth at the word ‘fantasy’ but kept listening, wondering what he was getting at. “For Melrose, especially at the age she was, it must have been a horrible experience. Her little sister went missing for… how long was it?”  
“I don’t remember exactly but it must have been a few weeks.”  
“Right, a few weeks. That’s a long time for her to vanish without explanation or any sign of where she’d gone, only to turn up later saying she’d been in a different world. It must have been terrifying for her, so surely being reminded of that place would be traumatic for her.”  
“Maybe so but pushing for therapy at this stage seems a bit extreme. When she was younger then perhaps that would work but after all this time what does Melrose expect to happen? Plus if she’s the one who’s traumatised why doesn’t she go to the shrink? Surely she should that it will just make things worse for Ja-”  
“Guys, can you stop psychoanalyzing me and my sister?! You sound like Dr Harland!” They blinked in confusion before she added quietly “He’s my therapist.”  
“Geez, that’s kind of bad you’ve got one by name.” Karen added, earning herself a glare.  
“It doesn’t matter, I’m not seeing him again no matter what she says. I’ve just got to figure out how to patch things up with her so we can forget about this, even if it means forgetting about Candle Cove as well.”  
“Candle Cove? Your weird little pirate world?” Diana’s voice floated over to where they were sat, giving an idle smirk as her group of friends giggled. Janice bit her lip, knuckles whitening as she tried to contain herself; she really didn’t want to deal with this now. “How cute, you still believe your imaginary world is real.”  
“Hey leave it Diana.” David said, standing up protectively in front of Janice  
“Or what? You guys gonna make me walk the plank? Maroon me on a desert island? Call me a yellow be-”  
“Fuck off.”  
A heavy silence fell over the group, spreading as people around them took notice of the brewing altercation.  
“Excuse me?”  
“I said, fuck off.”  
Everybody was stunned, Diana looking genuinely shocked while Karen and David glanced at each other nervously. It wasn’t what Janice had said but… the sheer venom behind it. Even Janice herself was taken aback at how harsh it was, where did that come from? Sure Diana was a bully but she’d never felt anything like that. It was like bile had suddenly gathered inside her. Literally, she was starting to feel strangely nauseous and a dull ache had appeared in her right ankle.  
“Come on Janice, it’s nearly time for class anyway.” Karen said, placing an arm around her shoulders as she stood up to lead them away.  
“Huh, all talk no game then? How pathetic that you even have to resort to such crude language.” Janice tried to ignore her, focusing on her feet moving in time with Karen’s as they tried to walk away. “Probably picked that attitude up from her slutty sister.”  
Her feet froze to the ground, feeling a desperate tug from Karen but ignoring it as she turned back, eyes blazing while she practically spat out “What did you say?”  
Diana smirked again as she continued “Well it’s a wonder she’s let into normal society, screaming and cursing like a common criminal. I imagine she’s learned that from all the deadbeats she spreads her legs for around town, wouldn’t you agree? No wonder she acts like a jailbait hook- AGH!”  
Her words were cut off as Janice ran at her, smashing her fist into Diana’s face as hard as she could, resulting in a resounding crack from her nose. There were several shrieks from Diana’s group while David and Karen both froze in place, unsure of what to do. Blood started falling from Diana’s nose as she clutched it, eyes wide first in horror then in sheer rage. Soon she landed her own blow onto Janice’s cheek followed by quickly grabbing at her hair and yanking it as hard as she could, eliciting a shriek of pain. A crowd had started to form, chanting ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ while the two girls went at it.  
“David, get the teacher quick!” Karen cried out as she was shoved aside by excited onlookers, David nodding and quickly running off.  
Diana fought more dirty, trying to scratch and pull at her hair, but Janice was going on brute strength, knocked her down to the floor and placing her hand around her throat as she slammed her head down as hard as she could. Her fingers squeezed, her entire body trembling as she glared down at her bully… who was whimpering in sheer terror. Something snapped and Janice quickly let go of her throat; had she… had she really tried to strangle her?  
“THAT’S ENOUGH YOU TWO!” A male voice shouted loudly, the gym teacher running over and pulling the two girls apart before Diana could get another strike in. “Principal’s office, RIGHT NOW!”  
  
*  
  
**Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.**  
The clock in the principal’s office seemed obscenely loud as Janice sat there, eyes fixed firmly on the floor.  
Also in the room was Principal Agatha Jones, Diana and her father Jeff Williams, who was currently glaring daggers at Janice. They just had to wait for Melrose to arrive. Principal Jones had automatically tried calling her dad first but unsurprisingly he didn’t pick up so they had to get her sister instead. Diana’s nose was still swollen and bloody while she also had several bruises on her face and neck. Janice was far less damaged, though she was supporting an impressive bruise on her left cheek and several scratches.  
She hadn’t had a chance to see Karen and David on the way, but she was certain if she had they wouldn’t have looked her in the eye. This was… she didn’t even know what this was. Never once in all the years of Diana’s teasing had she ever raised a hand to her, much less try to strangle her. Even with Melrose in their worst fights, the most she’d done was given her sister a hard shove. She wasn’t a violent person. At least, she didn’t think she was. That dull ache in her ankle was still there, maybe she’d stepped on it funny during the fight.  
The door suddenly swung open and Melrose dashed in, breathlessly saying “I’m here! I’m here…” Mr Williams gave her a glare which she promptly ignored, turning straight to Janice and examining the mark on her face. “The hell have you been playing at brat? Good god, does it still hurt?”  
“Does THAT still hurt?! Look at what she did to my daughter!” Jeff yelled, causing Melrose to finally look at the other girl.  
She had to suppress a snort at Diana’s messed up nose as she muttered “Holy crap…”  
“Miss Stewart, please.” Agatha responded, giving her a meaningful glare before continuing “Now, I’ve called you both here because these two were fighting on school property. This is a very serious issue that must be dealt with immediately. We have witness confirmation that Janice was the one who started the fight…”  
“Hah!” Diana sneered, earning another glare from the principal to quieten her.  
“But Diana’s actions caused it to escalate, therefore both girls are at fault. Diana will do a week of detention, one hour every day after school.”  
“That’s rubbish! It’s that little brute there who needs to be punished for what she’s done to my Diana!” He yelled again, causing Melrose to roll her eyes.  
“Oh please, that fiend has been bullying Janice and god knows how many others for years now, yet the moment she gets a taste of her own medicine you call foul? That’s just pathetic!”  
“Pathetic?! When your sister resorts to mindless violence? Though I shouldn’t be surprised considering the influence she has to put up with.”  
“You got something to say big-shot then say it to my face!”  
“Really? Because in your weak excuse for a family it looks like you only listen with your fi-”  
“Mr Williams that’s enough! Please, can you and your daughter leave so I can deal with Miss Stewart.” He opened his mouth to respond but then changed his mind, glaring at Melrose again as he dragged Diana outside despite her protests that she shouldn’t have to do detention. “Now Miss Stewart…”  
“I know I know but you heard what he said!”  
“Could you take a seat please?” Melrose sat down in Diana’s empty seat, looking towards Janice who kept her gaze averted. “You have to understand the seriousness of this situation, and the consequences such actions bring.”  
“We do Principal Jones, trust me she is getting grounded for this.”  
“Hmmm….” The principal rubbed her eyes and looked at the two again. “I am not a fool, I am well aware of Diana’s actions, this is not the first time I’ve had to deal with her. But resorting to violence even with such a person is not acceptable Janice, you understand that don’t you?” Janice nodded slowly, still not looking up properly. “I’m far more concerned by the fact you’re here in the first place, you’ve always been such a good student! Of course, I am aware of your psychological history…” Janice tensed up, feeling ready to yell at her for not knowing what she was talking about…. but she took a deep breath and just continued listening. “But that doesn’t explain why you resorted to violence.”  
“It just… felt like the right thing to do.” Janice practically whispered though she could feel her sister and principal’s gaze on her as she did so.  
“You did start the fight, and you broke her nose. But as it is the first time we’ve had this kind of issue with you Janice, I’m going to be lenient. You’re suspended for the rest of the day and you will stay after school for one hour every day for a week… in a separate room to Diana of course. I will inform your fencing coach that you will not be at next week’s session. If this happens again we will take more drastic measures. Is that understood?”  
“Absolutely one hundred percent we understand, right Janice?”  
“Yes Principal Jones.”  
“Good, now the two of you better be off.” With that they both stood up and exited the office, Principal Jones sighing slightly as she watched them leave.  
  
*  
  
The two were sat in complete silence in the car, Janice fiddling slightly with her sleeves. It had been like this since they left the school, and it seemed to be taking longer than usual to get home which only made her feel more and more nervous.  
Melrose still hadn’t yelled at her.  
_I know it’s coming, but when. Oh god sis just do it already, the anticipation is killing me! Wait… anticipation? That isn’t right, it sounds like I’m looking forward to it. Dread maybe? Or can anticipation be used as- Why am I thinking even thinking about this?! That’s not the point here!_ She thought to herself, finally taking a deep breath and preparing to open her mouth.  
The car quickly came to a screeching halt, causing Janice to jolt forward.  
“Well, that was quite the show there wasn’t it?” The tone of her sister’s voice was sharp and cold, cutting through her like an icicle. “God knows how I’m gonna explain this at work, at least your detention can let me make up the time.”  
“Melrose I-”  
“What do you have to fucking say for yourself brat?”  
“I just-”  
“Janice.” She glared directly at her sister, her voice low and dangerous. Janice found herself tensing, ready for a strike on the cheek. “There is only one thing I want to hear from you. What. Kind. Of. Sundae. Do. You. Want.”  
“Mel I’m so sorry I really didn’t mean to do it it’s just that she was taunting me about Candle Cove and I tried to ignore her but then she started talking so much crap about you and I didn’t want to put up with it any longer so I punched her then she pulled my hair and before I knew it I was grabbing… her… what?”  
It was at this point that Janice finally looked outside at where they were. They had parked outside the Splendor Parlour, a fifties style ice-cream place that had only opened up a few months ago. Her eyes went back to her sister, still waiting patiently for an answer.  
“Don’t leave me hanging here, it always looks weird lingering around the counter so best decide before we go inside. Come on, what’s it to be?”  
“Um… banana split?”  
“Cliché but not a bad choice. Then again I’m going for hot fudge so can’t really say anything. Sister Split?”  
“Uh… uh yeah, Sister Split, sure.”  
“Great, let’s go.”  
With that Melrose promptly got out of the car without another word, leaving a bewildered Janice to scramble out after her. Once inside Melrose went to the counter to order while Janice found a table, her face still contorted in a confused expression as she sat down. Eventually, her sister came back with two glasses of coke, taking the seat opposite her and pushing one across to Janice. Not long afterward the ice cream was brought over, Melrose not hesitating to take a scoop of both hers and Janice’s.  
“Come on slowpoke, if Sister Split is going to work you need to get moving.”  
“Yeah…” Sister Split was a term they’d come up with the first time they went for ice cream after Janice’s return and basically meant that whenever they had desserts the two would order something different and pick at each other’s to share. They hadn’t actually done it for a while and considering that, like ‘Bowling For Soup’ songs, it was one of the few bonding activities they had, Janice should have been eager for it. So she picked up her spoon and moved it towards the ice cream, only for her hand to freeze. “So… I mean… you’re not mad at me?”  
“Mad?” Melrose blinked at her for several seconds, then out of nowhere burst out laughing, nearly dropping her spoon in the process. “Why on earth would I be mad? That little horror has been a pain since she was a snot-nosed brat, I’m actually kind of proud that it’s you who finally taught her a lesson. And if you say that she was talking crap about me, then that just means you were defending your sister’s honour, what could be wrong with that?” She drew herself up and put on a regal tone, giving a mock bow before saying “And I am truly blessed to be under the protection of such a noble warrior, you have my eternal gratitude Sir Janice.” Janice couldn’t help laughing at her sister’s overdramatic comment, though as her eyes started to prick each laugh was undercut with a slight sob which instantly drained the smile from Melrose’s face. She instantly started babbling “Hey, hey hey hey! Cool down on the waterworks sis, come on. No need for that eh, it’s all good. Come on Janice we’re in a public place, if you wanted to do this should have done so in the car.”  
“I- I know… it’s just… j-just… I’m sorry…”  
“You don’t have to apologise. Like I said I’m not mad at-”  
“Not for that… well yes for that but, more about yesterday.”  
“Janice…” Melrose gave a sigh, putting down her spoon and stretching over to squeeze her sister’s hand. “Look, don’t worry about it. I just automatically pushed you without letting you talk about it. Or asking if you even wanted to talk about it. So… I’m sorry too. But hey, we’ve been in worse fights than this right? And for way longer, so buck up brat this isn’t the end of the world.”  
Sniffing slightly and rubbing her eyes, Janice finally looked up and managed to choke out “Thanks sis.”  
Melrose smiled, a real genuine smile that she hadn’t given for god knows how long. She was about to say something else, only to be interrupted by a vibration in her pocket. “Hold on, I’m buzzing.” She said, taking out her phone to see a new message.  
  
**I had a cancellation this afternoon, if you and Janice are free please come over. Simon.**  
  
“What is it?”  
Melrose glanced up at her sister's face, seeing her slightly puffy eyes and big smile. For a moment a shadow of doubt crossed her mind before she typed a quick reply and put the phone away.  
“Just Mike telling me to expect an ass-kicking when I get back, no biggy.” She responded, slipping her phone back into her pocket and taking another spoonful.  
Janice playfully reached over and took a chunk off her sister’s spoon, quickly eating it as Melrose growled at her, resulting in a small spoon war that caused a few other patrons to stare. The two continued like this for a while, talking about work, school, Janice’s birthday and of course, the look on Diana’s face when her nose got broken. Once they’d finished their sundaes they left, stepping outside to see the weather had suddenly turned; the steady rain from earlier had changed into a heavy downpour.  
“So this is the storm they were promising… I was expecting something more impressive.”  
“Maybe it’ll pick up later, would be cool if we could get a proper thunderstorm. Say, wanna go for a drive?”  
“Don’t you need to get back to work?”  
“Ugh I’ll have to deal with the consequences anyway, might as well take the rest of the day off. And I can’t leave you on your own, what if you start fights all over the neighbourhood and end up getting carted away by the cops.” Janice gave her a soft shove, earning a laugh from her sister as she continued “Besides, driving in the rain is fun.”  
“And dangerous. You really are a bad role model sis.”  
“A bad role model would leave her little sister out in the rain for getting too lippy.”  
Janice grinned back, following her sister and getting into the car. The cd was soon blasting, both girls singing along to ‘My Hometown’ so loud that even with the windows closed, several passers-by stared. They didn’t really have any destination, just going around the city and housing districts, moving away from the city center. They did keep talking and singing, but still Janice ended up spacing out a bit, not really paying attention or realise how long they’d been driving until they started slowing down. Her eyes looked out, seeing the entrance to St Martins Park, a small open area surrounded by thick woods.  
“The rain’s getting heavier, wonder if that bridge warning is still out… hey, why are we stopping?”  
Melrose tensed her fingers around the wheel, taking a deep breath as she answered “Janice… I’m sorry.”  
It was at this point that she saw past her sister to the tall brick building they had pulled up to. And the sign set up outside it.

**Dr Simon Harland, Licensed Therapist**

  
“What are we doing here?”  
“Look you said yourself that she was taunting you about it so if this is what started the fight...”  
“I thought we’d got over this! I don’t need therapy!”  
“The fact that you’re arguing about it just makes me more certain you do!” Melrose responded, desperately trying not to get angry as she turned to face her sister. “I just need you to go through this one more time, if nothing comes from it then I swear you’ll never have to do it again but you have to give it a chance!”  
“Give what a chance? Being told I’m crazy? You tricking me?!”  
“Janice I don’t want to argue about this so ple-”  
**SMACK!**  
Melrose froze in place, not quite comprehending what had happened. Janice gasped slightly, her body trembling and her eyes wide at what she’d done. Finally, Melrose’s hand went up to her cheek, feeling the burning sensation of the large, red mark.  
“I’m doing this for your own good.” She muttered, her voice shaken as she opened the car door and got out, slamming it behind her. She walked up to the entrance, pressing the buzzer as she waited for a response. “Hey, it’s Melrose Stewart? Yeah, I’m here with Janice to-”  
**SCREEECH!**  
She snapped around sharply in time to see a car stalled in the middle of the street, the driver leaning out the window and yelling at the quickly shrinking figure of-  
“JANICE! JANICE WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?! JANICE!!!”  
  
*  
  
Janice didn’t know where she was going, or even why she had started running.  
Her feet sunk into the slippery, muddy ground as she moved deeper and deeper into the woods, face getting struck by passing branches.  
Why? Why had she done it? Every other time she had at least told Janice what they were doing but… Melrose had tricked her?! Why? This always happened, just when things were getting better she had to go and screw it up! Why couldn’t she just leave this alone?!  
“I hate her… I hate her… I hate her…”  
The rain was getting harder and harder, mixing with her streaming tears pounding down on her until she felt like a dent was forming in her head. Between the cascade of emotions and the ever-worsening storm she had all but lost track of where she was, only just noticing that she’d reached the stream. Janice skidded to a halt, eyes looking down at the oddly swollen rushing stream. There hadn’t been that much rain had there? The old tree bridge was there, water pelting down onto it. That name was coined as a joke, it was actually just a toppled tree trunk that had been there for years. The rain had made it slick, and the wood had been rotting for ages. She took a step back, starting to reconsider her actions  
“JANICE! JANICE STOP!”  
The voice was far closer than she’d expected. Everything in Janice’s head told her to go to her sister and talk this through, that what she was doing was stupid and dangerous. Yet… Without another thought she stepped onto the log, starting to walk over as fast as she could until her foot slipped and forced her to stop and regain her balance.  
“JANICE! What the hell are you doing? Get off that!” Melrose appeared, stopping at the end of the bridge with a terrified expression on her face as she saw where her sister was.  
“Why the hell should I listen to you?! You lied to me Melrose!”  
“Janice I’m sorry, I really didn’t want to hurt you. I don’t care if you hate me for the rest of my life but please just come back! We can talk this through.”  
“For once I thought you were really on my side! I felt bad for yelling at you and I thought there was a way we could get through this! Well forg- AGH!” A loud crack resounded and part of the log split, causing Janice to drop down to her knees and clutch onto the wood.  
“Janice! Hold on sis, I’m gonna get you off there! Just stay still!” Janice was only half-listening, trying to inch forward only to hear another crack and feel her left foot sink into a crevice of the wood. Melrose hesitantly stood up onto the bridge, tentatively moving forward, feeling how fragile it was beneath her feet. Her sense of balance was nowhere near as good as Janice’s, but she took a deep breath and started to inch towards her.  
“Alright, take my hand.”  
“How can I trust you… How can I trust anything you say?!”  
“For fuck sake Janice I don’t want you to die! Look, you may not trust me ever again and that’s fine, but if I’m so loathsome then I’m sure as hell not worth risking your life! So please, please just take my hand!!!” Janice hesitated, eyes flicking between her sister's outstretched hand and the raging water beneath. It seemed to have gotten deeper. After a few moments, she tearfully reached out to her sister. “That’s it. Now we need to slowly mo-”  
**CRACK!**  
The bridge collapsed completely, Melrose shrieking at the sudden drop and desperately grabbing onto Janice as tightly as she could. They both hit the water with a painful smack, sinking down as Janice clung to her sister. A crushing blackness overcame the two, both so focused on each other they couldn’t muster the energy to try and swim. And as shadows crawled into Janice’s vision, the last thing she was aware of was the loving grasp of Melrose’s hand and the slight taste of salt in her mouth.  
Then… nothing.


	4. Chapter 4

Janice opened her eyes, squinting against the light as she tried to push herself up, hissing in pain as a splinter sunk into her skin. Her arms trembled, the surface she was resting on wobbling with the motion while she tried to take in a deep breath, her lips parched and her throat dry. After blinking a few times her blurry vision started to clear, allowing her to finally register her surroundings. Water. Lots and lots of water. She turned slightly, feeling a bit sick with each movement. In the distance behind her she could just make out what looked like an island. She was… in the ocean? Drifting on a raft… not even that, just a large piece of wood. How? The last thing she remembered was falling into the stream with Melrose and…  
“Melrose?!”  
“Ummm… ugh, what…” She looked down, seeing her sister sprawled out next to her, groaning slightly as she tried to open her eyes.  
“Oh god, Melrose!” Janice cried out, instantly reaching out to pull her over. The raft wobbled even more, causing Melrose to groggily move about as Janice tried to steady them.  
“What the… oh my fucking head…”  
“Melrose are you alright? Can you move?”  
“Huh? Yeah of course I ca- woah!” She tried to sit up and nearly toppled over again as the raft moved beneath her, Janice reaching out and grabbing her shoulders to steady her. “What the…. Janice, are we in the middle of the ocean?”  
“Try not to freak out Melrose… but yes, we are in the middle of the ocean.”  
“Oh. Ok.” There was silence, and Janice couldn’t help counting in her mind as she saw her sister’s face begin to twitch.“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING OCEAN?!”  
“Eight seconds, longer than I expected.” She muttered. “Mel you need to calm down.”  
“CALM DOWN?! WE’RE IN THE OCEAN! HOW DID WE EVEN GET HE-…. here… oh god, I’m dead aren’t I?”  
This sudden lapse of logic threw Janice off, her mind barely registering what had been said before she responded incredulously. “What? Melrose, you aren’t dead?”  
“No, I am! I am. I drowned in the stream and now I’m dead, this is my afterlife and you… you’re just my imagination, you’re not really here.”  
“Seriously? Of course I’m here, I’m right beside you.”  
“No no no no no no NO! You are not here because if you are here then that means you’re dead too and I won’t accept that so you aren’t here you are alive and you are home and you’re going to live a full and hap-”  
“MELROSE SNAP OUT OF IT!” Janice shook her sister’s shoulders as hard as she could before pulling her into a tight embrace. “I’m here Mel… I’m here sis… we’re not dead… I’m here with you…” Melrose shook violently, trying to pull away from her at first before finally returning the hug, tears running down her cheeks as she sobbed into her sister’s shoulder. They stayed like this for several minutes before breaking apart, Melrose rubbing her eyes and putting on a brave face.  
“*Sniff* So… where are we? I mean I know we’re on a bit of wood in the middle of the ocean but… how?”  
“I… don’t know. I mean, we were in the stream then…” A thought came across her mind, this was starting to seem familiar. Going into water at home, then ending up in the ocean. The last time it had happened… “Wait… it can’t be…”  
“Can’t be what?”  
“Oh good, you girls are finally awake.” The soft, sultry feminine voice floated over to them, the two girls turning round to see who its owner was. Sat on the other end of their raft, legs lazily dangling in the water, was a woman. A green-skinned woman with long orange hair bouncing about her shoulders, her lips, and overly large eyes the same shade as her hair. There was a slightly darker green to the skin around her eyes, almost looking like a mask. She was also not wearing much at all, clad in what looked like a metal plate bikini held together with chains, a longer one running along her legs into the water. The woman was quite beautiful and oddly familiar to Janice. “Sleep well darlings?” She asked, smiling at them in a playful manner.  
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat the hell! You stay away from us!!!” Melrose snapped, grabbing hold of Janice and trying to move back, the raft tipping dangerously back as Janice forced her to stop moving and keep them both steady.  
“Careful there darling! I didn’t pull you out of the water just for you to drown yourself later.”  
“Stay back you weirdo! What is this some kind of messed up fetish thing?”  
“Mel calm down, she’s not going to hurt us.”  
“You don’t’ know that Janice! Just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she won’t do anything, you’d be surprised what sick perverts some women are!”  
“She’s not a pervert! I think… look we just need to relax.”  
“How am I supposed to relax when there is a half-naked woman in some kind of BDSM gear sat on our bit of wood?!” The two went quiet for a moment. Then Janice snorted, covering her mouth in a desperate attempt to stop herself from laughing which just caused Melrose to frown. “Sis this is serious! I know there was an innuendo in that sentence but we’ve got to figure how to… hehe… we’ve got to hahahaha… Janice this is seri… serious hahahahahahaha…”  
Before long the two of them were leaning against each other and laughing hard, both doubling over in pain with the effort. Whether it was exhaustion or delirium from dehydration, this one bit of humour was enough to have both girls lose it as the green-skinned woman watched them in quiet amusement. The two continued laughing, Janice being the first to regain her composure, as she turned to the woman and smiled.  
“It’s good to see you again Susan.”  
Susan cocked her head to one side, twisting a lock of hair around her finger as she asked “Have we met before darling?”  
“It’s been a while, we met when I was a kid. You were chained to Lullaby Rock, I wanted to free you and-”  
“Oh! Little Janice! How you’ve grown!” Susan’s face lit up with realisation, a large smile forming on her lips as she stretched a hand out to touch her face gently. She gave a little pout as she said: “You promised to come and visit me Janice.”  
“I know, I’m really sorry that I didn’t but… I ended up leaving the cove.”  
“Well I can’t stay mad at such a sweet girl, and you have come back so I’ll forgive you this one time.”  
“Hey hey hey! Hands off.” Melrose said, having seemingly recovered from her laughing fit enough to slap Susan’s hand away, moving in front of Janice protectively.  
“Oh right, Mel this is Susan Siren, she’s a friend. Susan, this is my sister Melrose.”  
“Sister? I can’t say I see the resemblance darling, but she is also very pretty. Oh how lucky I am to have come across two such lovely human girls.” She said, eyes trailing over Melrose which caused the other girl to shudder slightly.  
“Susan do you think you can-”  
“Already taken care of darling, I sang a little song while you two slept and a ship will be here soon.” Janice frowned slightly, eliciting a delicate laugh from the siren. “A non-lethal song darling, don’t give me that look. There aren’t any rocks to smash them into anyway. Unfortunately, my voice is a little weary from use so my range isn’t at its best; they may take a while to arrive.”  
“That’s alright, just as long as we ca-”  
“Ah! Something snapped at me!” Melrose’s shriek caught their attention, noticing her holding her hand as the small head of a turtle poked out of the water.  
“Terrance, behave yourself! I’m so sorry darling, the turtle is a bit feisty in his old age; goes crazy around pretty girls.”  
  
*  
  
The three of them had been drifting for nearly half an hour.  
Melrose had finally calmed down enough to talk to Susan, who seemed oddly fascinated by her tattoos and kept asking questions about them, to which she hesitantly responded as much as she could. Janice meanwhile was idly dangling her hand in the water, dragging it back and forth. It had taken a while but she had finally noticed that there was a multitude of sea creatures swimming around their raft, presumably brought by Susan. Fish, seahorses, turtles, even stingrays and jellyfish. She was careful not to get in their way or touch any stingers, and found that they didn’t mind her hand being among them. In fact for a while they were happily swimming around her fingers, one tiny fish dipping in and out of the gaps until a slight shift in the water sent a few of them scattering.  
“Is that our ship?” Melrose asked, causing Janice to look up.  
There coming steadily closer towards them was the looming form of a ship. It was still quite far away to make out the details but as Janice focused she saw on the front what appeared to be two large eyes, and beneath them was a wide grinning mouth….  
“It can’t be… Laughingstock?” Without any warning Janice suddenly jumped to her feet, causing the raft to rock dangerously.  
“Hey watch out Janice you’ll fall in.” Her sister scolded her but she wasn’t listening, her face breaking into a smile as she yelled as loud as she could.  
“LAUGHINGSTOCK! MS LAUGHINGSTOCK!” She began waving like mad, ignoring her sisters cries of discomfort.  
After a few moments a deep, booming yet feminine voice floated over to the group.  
“I can hear you from here dearie, no need to shout!”  
“Ha… aha… ahahahaha…” Without thinking Janice suddenly jumped off the raft, ignoring her sister yelling after her as she hit the water, instantly swimming up and going as fast as she could towards the ship.  
“Hold up there laddies she’s coming to us!” The ship boomed, stopping altogether as Janice swam over and clutched onto the sides. “Janice dearie what are you doing swimming around like, you’ll catch your death!”  
“Ms Laughingstock… it’s really you… I’ve missed you so much!” She cried out, hugging the side of the ship as tightly as she could while keeping afloat.  
“I’ve missed you too dearie.” She responded, smiling wider than ever.  
“Watch out below!”  
**THUMP.**  
“Ow.” Janice rubbed her head as it was knocked by a rope dropped down, which then settled beside her.  
“Well go on then dearie, don’t keep them hanging around.”  
“Ok.” She nodded and grabbed the rope, starting to pull herself up as she felt someone on the other end pulling upwards to make her journey go quicker. It wasn’t long until she was close enough to grab onto the side of the ship, feeling a hand reach out to grab her own. Another hand came out and pulled at her arms, Janice lifting her eyes to see...  
“Janice?” The young pirate stared at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. In his surprise he nearly let go, causing Janice to shriek as she started to fall back. He frantically grabbed for her again, pulling with such force that the two toppled into a pile on the deck. She regained herself first, sitting up to give him space, the pirate rubbing his head as he looked at her again.  
“Percy…” He looked exactly the same as she remembered. Around the same age as herself, dressed in a navy blue jacket and hat, his orange-red hair hung scruffily around his head. His skin was very pale, practically white with a round face, slightly red cheeks and large blue eyes, almost like a china doll.  
“Janice you… you got big. Uh n-n-n-not big in bad way or a weird way I-I-I-just m-meant that you…” Percy began stuttering, barely able to finish his sentence, yet Janice found herself smiling while her eyes began pricking with tears.  
“PERCY!!!” Janice launched herself at the stammering pirate, wrapping her arms tightly around him as the force of her hug knocked him back down to the floor.  
Percy’s cheeks had flushed scarlet, his expression a mixture of terror and embarrassment as his arms went stiff at his sides, unsure what to do. Despite this, there was a glint of joy in his eyes as he managed to respond “It’s… uh… it’s nice to see you again J-Janice…”  
“Alright alright break it up ya scallywags! I’ll have no canoodling on my ship, ye hear me?!” A loud male voice cut through the reunion, causing Percy’s red face to somehow go pale and flush a darker hue at once.  
“C-c-c-c-canoodling? NO CAPTAIN THAT’S NOT WHAT THIS IS AT ALL I DIDN’T MEAN-” Percy continued to flail about in Janice’s embrace, causing her to start giggling against his shoulder while still holding on tightly.  
“Put a sock in it boy! As for ye Lassie…” Janice finally released the terrified Percy, still grinning as she turned to look up at who had spoken. A tall, broad-set pirate in a long brown coat with a cutlass at his side, a black hat on his head and an eyepatch over one eye, his face nearly obscured by a thick bushy red beard. But even with the beard, it was clear he was smiling. “Are ye going to leave this old man waiting for the sunset?”  
The tears were flowing freely as she got up and hugged him, her face nestled deeply into his beard as she whispered “Poppy… it’s so good to see you again…”  
“It’s good to see ye too Janice.” He responded, giving her a tight squeeze before stepping back to look at her, his hands resting on her shoulders. “Just look at ye, last time ye visited ye were not the height of me belly. Yet here ye stand, such a bonny lady.” His smile faltered. “Ye disappeared so suddenly Janice. I feared the worst!”  
“I… I went home. I don’t know how and I wish I could have said goodbye… but I’m here now.” She responded, placing a hand on his cheek and grinning.  
“Oh Lass, ye don’t know how it warms my heart to see that smile again.” His expression became more serious almost out of nowhere, his voice growing lower and softer. “Now yer back, we have a few things to talk abo-”  
“Um… J-Janice? Who is that scary lady coming onto our ship?” At Percy’s trembling question she turned, seeing Susan stood on the deck, helping Melrose come on board.  
“Oh! Right, one moment Poppy!” She walked over to the two, trying to get a look at Melrose’s face to see how she was doing. “Are you alright sis?”  
“Um… Yeah I… I uh…” She looked abnormally pale and was shivering, although Janice wasn’t certain if this was from the wet clothes or from discomfort; her nervous expression suggested the latter.  
“Welcome aboard me ship Lass, hope the waves didn’t treat ye too rough.” Poppy said, wandering over with a welcoming grin.  
“Ah… no no it’s fine… it’s… Janice, could I have a word with you?” Melrose took Janice’s arm and pulled her aside before hissing at her “Janice! I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the ship is talking!”  
“The Ship is also listening dearie.” Laughingstock’s voice boomed into the conversation, causing Melrose to jump out of her skin. “Goodness me, one starts shouting the other starts whispering, do you want me to he-”  
“HOLY FUCKING CRAP WHAT THE GODDAMN HELL?!”  
There was a moment of stunned silence at Melrose’s outburst. Susan looked vaguely amused, Percy was cowering back behind the captain while Janice was staring at her, frozen to the spot. The quiet was only broken because Poppy suddenly began laughing.  
“Oh by the blessed sun! I’ve heard sailors at port drinking ten barrels of rum with a wench in their arms who don’t curse that much young lassie.”  
“Janice darling, perhaps she could use a bit of help?” Susan said, leaning cooly against the side of the ship with a smirk on her face.  
“Oh yes, good idea. Melrose?” She said, getting her sisters attention before continuing “Let me introduce you to the Laughingstock crew. This is Captain Poppy, his first mate Pirate Percy, and this…” She said, indicating the deck “is Ms Laughing Stock, the ship herself. Everyone, this is my sister Melrose.”  
“Any kin of Janice is welcome on my ship, pleasure to make yer acquaintance Miss Melrose.” Poppy said, holding out a hand towards her, which she hesitantly took and gave the barest of shakes.  
“Um, thanks. Pleasure’s mine. Huh…. Hey Janice, have I passed out.”  
“Um… no.”  
“Ok ok. It’s just… I feel like I might…”  
Janice immediately grabbed onto her sister’s arms to support her, glancing up at Poppy before asking “Is there somewhere we can go for a moment? I think this might be a bit too much for her.”  
“O’course lass, ye can use me cabin for now. We’ll sort out the spare cabin for ye later.”  
“Thanks, come on sis.” She responded, leading her still bewildered sister towards the cabin area. On the way there Poppy placed a hand on her shoulder to halt her.  
“Once she is better come and see me Janice, we do need to talk.” His expression was oddly serious, more-so than she ever remembered seeing before, so Janice nodded slowly in response before returning her attention to Melrose.  
  
*  
  
Once the two were inside the cabin, Janice led Melrose over to the bed and helped her onto it, getting her to lay down.  
“Here we go, try to relax.”  
“Ughhhhhhhhhh….” A long groan was the only response she gave, closing her eyes as she curled up on top of the covers.  
Janice patiently sat by her side, watching her seemingly drift off to sleep. Her lips curled into a smile as she watched Melrose’s chest rising slowly up and down, reaching over stroke her black hair. It was strange, for once she felt like the older sister.  
About ten minutes or so had passed before there was a soft knock on the door. She made her way over, opening the door to find Percy stood there, holding a small tray with two tankards.  
“Um… I brought you two some water.”  
“Thank you, Percy.” She responded, taking the tray from him.  
“How is she?”  
“She’s sleeping at the moment, I think the shock was a bit much for her.”  
“I can understand that, hehehehe.” He laughed nervously, a hand going behind his head as he added quietly. “Though I’m surprised anything can shock someone like her… Oh I didn’t mean it like-”  
“It’s fine Percy. I know she looks a bit scary. And she can sound a bit scary. Aaaaand she can act a bit scary. But she’s really nothing to worry about, and she won’t hurt you. She’s my sister, after all, she’d never hurt anyone who was important to me.”  
Percy didn’t look entirely certain but he nodded gently in response.  
“Ok, I trust you.” He started to turn away, but then looked back with a small smile. “It um… it is really good to see you again Janice. You did disappear so… we were… I was afraid….”  
“I’m sorry for vanishing like that, I didn’t have a choice. But I’m here now, and you have no idea what it means for me to see you again. I’m… I’m really happy to be back.”  
Percy blushed again, but was still smiling as he responded “Well uh, hope she feels better.”  
“Thanks, I’ll see you in a bit.” With that she closed the door, smiling to herself as she heard him walking away from the door.  
“You know I usually don’t like imaginary boyfriends, but when they suddenly become real? Well then you’ve got to go and take that opportunity.”  
Janice rolled her eyes, walking over to the bed where Melrose was sat up with a smirk on her face.  
“I see you’re feeling better all of a sudden.”  
“I’ve come to accept the madness, if I think too much about it then my brain will go all… all… I have no idea where I was going with that.”  
“Hehe. Here, drink this.” She set the tray on a small table beside the bed and passed her one of the tankards. Melrose grasped it in both hands, taking a deep, long drink.  
“Better?”  
“Better yes but… considering we’re on a pirate ship I was expecting something a bit stronger.”  
“Like I’d let you have alcohol in your state.”  
“Like you never had any last time.”  
“Melrose I was underage to drink. I’m STILL underage to drink!”  
“Seriously? You were on a pirate ship for god knows how long and you never had so much as a drop of rum?” Melrose shook her head, her face in an expression of mock disappointment. “That is disgraceful.”  
Janice chuckled at that, taking a drink from the other tankard and sitting down on the bed. She took a few moments, taking a deep breath as she murmured softly “So sis, I need to tell you something. We are-”  
“In Candle Cove. Yeah I… I kind of guessed that.” Melrose looked away, eyes on the tankard in her hands. “So… it’s real.”  
“Yep.”  
“And all the stories… everything you told me…”  
“They all happened.”  
“Well… um, that’s something I never expected. I’m on a talking ship with a bunch of pirates. Wait um… is she still listening?”  
“Laughingstock? Well technically she can always hear us but she she’s very polite so she won’t be eavesdropping.”  
“Ok, good…” Melrose looked up at her, her smile still on her face but starting to shake. “I feel like an idiot.”  
“Sis I don’t blame you for not believing me…” Janice began, only for Melrose to cut her off.  
“I should have given you the benefit of the doubt! Instead I just… Oh god… I forced you to therapy! There was nothing wrong with you and I put you through that anyway! If anything I could have fucked you up even more!”  
“Melrose don’t beat yourself up, you couldn’t have known! If I was in your position I would have thought I was crazy too!”  
“Janice I never thought you were crazy!” Sighing, she grasped the handle of the tankard more tightly, her knuckles turning white. “Look, I should have told you this from the beginning. The reason I insisted you go to therapy so much was because I thought yo- AGH!” Both were suddenly rocked forward as the ship gave a hard jolt, Janice smacking into the floor while Melrose hit the wall. “What the hell? Did we hit something?”  
“I don’t think so, we aren’t anywhere near land. In fact, I don’t think we were moving at all… Hang on.” Janice got up and walked over to one of the portholes, standing on her tiptoes and looking around. “Can’t see anything from this. Maybe it’s another ship passing by? Wait there I’ll go up and talk a look.”  
“I’m coming with you.”  
“Are you sure you can walk?”  
“Not really but that’s not going to stop me.” Melrose chuckled slightly, walking over to the door with Janice and following her up to the deck.  
“Oh, you two are up and about again. That’s good.” Laughingstock boomed out.  
“Hi there Ms Laughingstock. Sorry about the whole freakout earlier, I’m um… I honestly haven’t met a talking ship before.”  
“Hahahahaha, that’s quite alright dearie. It gave us all a good laugh so I’d say there’s no harm done.”  
“It is a ship!” Janice cried out, leaning over the side and staring out at the shape of a ship in the distance. It was moving towards them, and it was moving fast.  
“The rascals are sending waves throughout the whole sea! The first time I stop properly in ages and they go making this kind of racket!”  
“Who is it? Anyone you guys know?... Janice? Janice, what’s wrong?”  
Janice’s eyes were wide as she stared out, the ship close enough for her to see it in detail. The jagged design, the ragged sails...  
“Oh no. No no no no no no no no no no not now. Why now?”  
“Janice? What’s wrong sis?”  
“Laughingstock! Laughingstock can you see this? It’s the Rubber Fishes!”  
“I know Janice I know, hold your horses.”  
“But they’re coming right for us! We need to go quick!”  
“I can’t do that dearie, please just relax an-”  
“Oh right! You need to be steered! Um… Poppy! Where’s Poppy? POPPY!” With that babble of words, she quickly dashed off, Melrose staring after her in confusion.  
“She used to listen so well as a child. What happened?” Laughingstock lamented.  
“That uh… that might be my fault. Excuse me, I’ve got to go after her.” Melrose responded, quickly following her sister.  
Janice was running towards the helm, still screaming out Poppy’s name as she went. Percy came up from the cabin area at the sound of her screams, face twisted in concern.  
“Janice! What’s wrong?”  
“Percy thank god!” She rushed back to him, grabbing his arms as she frantically spoke. “We need to steer Laughingstock away now! The Rubber Fishes are here!”  
“Already…”  
“What do you mean already? Have they been attacking a lot recently? Come on we’ve got to do something!”  
“But… but Janice… we can’t…”  
“What’s all this screaming about?” Poppy had appeared, looking towards the two of them with a raised eyebrow. “If this is going to be an ongoing thing with you two I’ll have to set more-”  
“Poppy the Rubber Fishes are here! We need to get away now or we have to man the canons or we hav-”  
Poppy placed a hand on her arm, looking her right in the eye as he responded calmly “Janice, calm down. There’s nothing to worry about.”  
“What… Poppy, I don’t understand! They’re right there! Why won’t you do anything?!”  
“Heeeeeere they come!” Laughingstock’s booming voice interrupted their conversation, causing them all to turn around and see the large ship coming up alongside them, slowing down to a complete stop. They could see several haggard pirates walking around the deck, some of them looking over and jeering at them.  
“So wait, are they bad guys?” Melrose asked Percy, who shrunk down under her gaze.  
“Um… yes…”  
“Well then I’m with Janice, why aren’t we doing anything about it?”  
“Um… uh…” He shrunk further, causing Melrose to roll her eyes.  
“Ok ok, sorry didn’t mean to scare you. Geez, you really are a coward.”  
A large plank was raised and set down, slamming into the side of the ship to create a bridge between both vessels.  
“What’s going on up here darlings?” Susan asked, wandering over as she eyed the ship with disinterest.  
“Susan please help, they won’t do anything! The Rubber Fishes are boarding and no one is doing anything!”  
This made Susan raise an eyebrow, looking at Poppy accusingly as she asked: “You haven’t told her yet?”  
“Told me what? Guys, what is going on?!”  
Before Poppy could speak they heard a cruel yet hearty laugh from the other ship and saw someone ascending the plank. A pirate with no hair, a large handlebar mustache surrounding his toothy grin and a shiny round monocle placed over one eye, glinting in the sunlight.  
“Horace…” Janice breathed, yet even as he started to walk over to them no one else moved. Poppy, Percy, Susan… they were all just watching! She had to do something otherwise he was going to board. _I need a weapon, I need a weapon!_ Her eyes fell on Melrose’s hand, still clutching the now empty tankard. Without a word she wrenched it away, ignoring her sister's shocked voice as she threw it with all her might straight at Horace. Despite the distance she managed to smack him in the face where his monocle was set, causing him to reel back and nearly lose his balance, yelling out in pain as the tankard landed in the water with a splash. Poppy let out a gasp at this while Percy cowered back, whimpering in fear. Susan, however, was doubled over with laughter and Melrose stood there in awe as she muttered “Nice shot.”  
“ARRRRRRRGH! Who dared to strrrrike at me?! I’ll turrrrn you into mincemeat!” Horace yelled out, his hand reaching towards a cutlass on his belt.  
“Do your worst Horace! We’re not afraid of you!” Janice yelled back at him, Poppy holding her back before she could run at him full force.  
“Janice don’t! We’re not fighting here!”  
“Watch yer tongue gir… Janice?” The monocled pirate froze a moment, walking towards them as he squinted down at her. “AHAHAHAHAHA! Well if it isn’t wee little Janice! Aren’t ye a sight for sore eyes? Or rather… a sore eye for a sight! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hey boy!” He yelled up, looking towards his ship where another figure had appeared at the end of the plank; a young man with blonde hair under a blue bandana and black jacket hung over his shoulders. His face was heavily scarred and he seemed unnaturally pale. “Do ye see this boy? We’re joined by the very delightful Janice! Why don’t ye go spread the word? He’ll want to know about this.”  
The man walked off, Janice staring after him.  
“Milo… but that… that’s not possible…” Horace began moving closer and her attention shifted back towards him. “What the hell are you doing? You need to leave!”  
“Leave? Ahahaha, oh but Lass, I was invited!”  
“Shut up! Why would you ever be-”  
“He was invited, Janice Though he's early.” Janice finally pulled away from Poppy’s grasp, turning to face him.  
“What is this? What do you mean?”  
“*Sigh* This is what I wanted to talk about before. Things have changed Janice, we’re in a bad situation. So we needed help from Horace… and others.”  
“Others? Wait, you don’t mean…”  
“Well well well, this is a pleasant surprise.”  
The voice she heard was calm, soft, polite even… yet sent chills down her spine.  
She heard the clear sound of footsteps on wood getting louder, not wanting to turn around but finally forcing herself to do so. By this point he was already stood on the deck barely a few feet away from her, his overly large glassy eyes fixed directly upon Janice’s face. A tall, dirty brown skeleton clad in a long patchwork cape with a hat to match, his jaw off-center.  
All the bravery, all the anger… it just melted away. Barely five seconds ago she had wanted to run at Horace and beat him with her bare hands. But just on look at him and she felt like a child again. Every horrible memory, every meeting… it all came back in one go. The change was clear to everyone, Melrose automatically moving closer as she saw her sister’s expression.  
“It is a pleasure to see your pretty face again, Janice.” Skintaker crooned, removing his hat and bowing deeply in a gentlemanly manner; the motion caused her to instinctually step back, which only made him chuckle in response.  
“P…. P-Poppy…” Janice didn’t even recognise the faint whimper that came from her lips, feeling the old pirate gently rest his hand on her shoulder.  
“Come on Lass, it’s time we had that talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four chapters in and we finally get to the Cove, this was my favourite bit to write as it was fun to figure out the personalities of all the characters. Been picking at the next chapter so hoping to have that up soon.

**Author's Note:**

> So here is another reupload from Deviantart. I keep starting to return to this one so hopefully I can pick it up again as I still really like the idea; I have nearly the entire story planned out, it's just that life kept getting in the way.


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